mamablotto

one of my coworkers (an RN) went through the same thing. When she graduated college in the late 80's there was a recession and nobody was hiring nurses. She went to an LTC, didn't like it very much, but stuck with it until she could get something else. When hospitals started hiring again, it was easier for her to get a job because she already had job experience. Just keep applying for different jobs and you're bound to get something that's not in an LTC eventually.

I think you need to have a change in attitude. Stop looking at MA school as a waste of time and start looking at it as a sign that you should pursue nursing. Would you have wanted to become a nurse if you haven't gone to MA school? When you learn the basic stuff in nursing school like BP, injections, and so on, it will be easier for you because you already learned it. A and P will come a little easier because you've already had an intro course to it in MA school. It makes me mad that you bash MA school so much. It sounds like you didn't do your homework and got suckered into a great sales pitch by an admissions rep. I work as an MA but it wasn't easy getting my first job. I spent the extra money and time getting my phlebotomy license (it's required in california), RMA, and CMA certifications. There are a million slack jawed medical assistants out there and you have to differentiate yourself from them. Don't discount the profession because we are very much needed in clinics, I'm the first and last person a patient sees when they come to my clinic. I give them their injections, draw their blood, file their insurance claims, send them birthday cards, give the MD/PA/NP heads up about issues, and blah blah blah. People get mad when they can't find jobs because their expectations were unreasonable. With that off my chest... Go for BSN. Almost all the nurses i know who went ADN ended up going back to school to get their BSN. Trust me, it's not a waste of time. Not only will you learn the clinical stuff, you'll also have to take the "fluff" courses such as english, socio, ect which will make you a well rounded person.

i've read those threads and i guess i got lucky. I've never had any problems getting a job as an MA. I live in the San Francisco bay and i make about 17 an hour as an MA. the longest time i've been between jobs is two weeks.

thank you so much, I'm printing this out to put in my "big binder of handy stuff".

it depends on what you want to do. if you want to be a nurse, do LVN. personally, i am studying to become a physician assistant so i became an MA to get health care experience. I have nothing against nurses and nursing (my mom and both grandmas are RNs, all still practicing), but I prefer the medical model verses the nursing model for education.

I don't think her sentence was too harsh. hopefully during her year of jail, 5 years of probation, and 200 hours of community service, she'll think about what HIPAA really means.

with my 100% scrubs, as long as i take them out of the dryer when they are still warm, shake them out, and then hang them up, they don't wrinkle.